By Rebecca van Noppen
I have a friend in Bergamo, Italy. If you are paying attention to world events, you might know what that means.
She is in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, and is a few days further down this crisis path than we are. The numbers coming out of Italy are alarming. She has been socially distancing for weeks, but now, despite concerns for her own health, she is reaching out to a friend in need.
She has done the only thing she felt she could do.
She has invited a sick, panic-stricken mother to her home, quarantined in one small room in her apartment.
This is what she writes.
“And so I did the only thing I felt I could do, I brought her to my house. She is in quarantine in the spare bedroom and I am in quarantine in the rest of the house. I cannot go outside either now. When my friend has a bit of fever she takes something to lower her fever and sleeps; she is calm. When she has little or no fever she starts to panic again! I need her to stay calm!!”
“I need her to stay calm.”
And I hear my friend’s words echoing across the distance – stay calm.
Easier said than done, I realize, but a calm response is crucial to our own well-being and the well-being of those around us.
My mentor once told me: “Don’t let your emotions lead you.” My emotions have been known to get me into trouble, leading me away from truth, wisdom and grace, into more fear, doubt, anger, and deceit.
I know that sometimes circumstances do warrant my passionate, concerned and feisty responses – that is part of who I am. But I am learning to allow God’s Spirit to lead me through these moments.
Today, my friend’s words are a reminder to me: Don’t let your emotions lead you. Stay calm.
Yes, this is a true crisis.
Yes, these days raise fear and panic within us.
But no, I don’t have to be led by that fear and panic, anxiety and worry. It won’t help. It doesn’t ever help.
Instead, I choose to press RESET – disconnecting from the world and re-centering and reconnecting with God. Not conforming to fear and anxiety, but choosing love, faith, hope, mercy, and grace.
I leave you with the words my friend also sent me today, from the mouth of Martin Luther, a German professor, priest and monk who lived in the 1500s. This is his response to a plague spreading through his own community.
I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I will fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, He will surely find me and I have done what He has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my death or the death of others. If my neighbour needs me however, I shall not avoid place or person. I shall go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.
(Luther’s Works; Vol. 43, pg. 132)